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There is a tarp on our gym floor and it is slowly filling up with boxes from the various classrooms, with more to come tomorrow as the kids empty their lockers. The movers will mostly concentrate on loading the boxes from the gym onto trucks, while the students and teachers will continue moving boxes to the gym. It will be interesting tomorrow! I am impressed by our 32 year old brand new principal. He is really doing a good job, although of course there are complaints....aren't there always? I wouldn't want his job, that's for sure. I baked some cookies tonight (peanut butter blossoms.....they look good despite my ineptitude) so that I could give some to him, the assistant principal, and our three secretaries. They have all had a lot on their shoulders this week!Half of the faculty spent the morning in the new building this morning, and the other half was there this afternoon. I was in the morning group. I am pretty pissed about some of the things in my new room. My white board is *smaller* than the chalkboard I am leaving behind, and I thought IT was too small. There are mirrors lining the side of my classroom (why, I don't know, since I didn't ask for them) and they are such cheap crap that they might as well be funhouse mirrors. They totally distort everything, not just at the edges, but everywhere. I asked my principal if they could take those down and give me more whiteboard instead and he hemmed and hawed and said it would be a change order, blah blah blah, and I just said, "Look at the size of that board, Matt.....it BLOWS!" He was quiet for a minute and then said "Yes, it really does blow. I will see what I can do." I would have never talked that way to my former principal (who was much older) and it was a relief to just be honest. The decisions that have been made pre-date this guy (and honestly, were probably made at a higher level anyway) so he doesn't feel attacked when I point out the stupidity of some of the stuff.
I took a personal day yesterday, which was fortuitous since we had a two-hour delay due to slick roads.....I would have gotten very little done AND would have had to stay later than I usually do, which would have annoyed me greatly. I got most of my shopping done (mostly for DH) and then DH and I drove to the south side of the city to make our lighting choices for the house. I was stressed about the appt., but it actually went very smoothly and we came in under-budget (probably because we went OVER budget on electrical since DH put in so many canned fixtures, but I digress.....) by a little bit. That was the *last* choice we had to make, so we went to Melting Pot to celebrate (there was one right by the lighting showroom). It was nice to have dinner out alone with DH.....can't remember the last time that happened! (I probably posted about it.....I should look back!) When we got home, DH helped me organize and wrap some of our gifts. We have such a motley collection of paper and recycled gift bags -- it is pathetic looking. But there is no way I am buying new this year, only to move it all in a few months. No saving gift bags this year, though.....out they go! I think some of them are on their 5th or 6th year.
(I know this only because I remember what grade Luke was in when he did a gift wrap fundraiser....)Tonight Luke and Joel were supposed to have bball games across town, but we are due to get more freezing rain, so the games were cancelled.
DH is working an in-house shift tonight, which sucks, but it is the last one before he has a week off. Tomorrow will be an early morning, because I have a faculty Christmas brunch (male teachers make omelets for everyone else and people bring in sweet rolls, etc. YUMMY!) that begins at 7:30. That means I will need to drop the boys at early care around 7:00 The walls of my house are primed in the colors we chose. It is almost scary now that it is getting so close to being done! The trim crew has started working and today when I stopped by, I saw that the newel posts at the top of the stairway to the basement are done and have been placed. I went by our flooring place the other day (I had a couple of questions) and saw that they had a new line of hardwood with several choices that were in budget. I looked through them and found a sample of a hard-scraped maple with a dark glaze that I liked MUCH better than our original choice, which was oak. The maple has less grain and is available in a wider plank, and I also like the hard-scraped look. So I was psyched about that.
I am feeling a little guilty about Christmas for the boys. I spent about $150 on each of them, and that is plenty, I know, but honestly, our impending move and my knowledge about the "toys" (ping-pong table, air hockey, pinball machine) we plan on getting once we are in the new house caused me to hold back quite a bit. I think they are old enough to understand the situation this year, and I certainly don't need more crap around here to pack up, but it makes me a little sad. We are going to celebrate Christmas on Monday I think, since we are leaving for KS Tuesday a.m.
My Dad arrives tomorrow night for the weekend, and we will be celebrating Christmas with him and with my half-sister and her family on Sunday afternoon after church. I'm thinking pizza sounds good. I will also be hosting my mom and sisters on New Years Day for another get-together. Pizza might sound good then, too.
My mom still doesn't get that Travis will have to work every day one of the holiday weeks. She is acting all spoiled that we won't be coming to her house, but there is no way I am leaving Travis here in an empty house on New Year's Day. She keeps saying stuff like "There is no point in even putting up the tree if your boys won't see it." AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!DH informed me this morning that movers and a "pod" (those storage units) will be arriving on Monday also. CRAP! We are going to put some things in storage to make our rooms look more spacious, and we are also getting new bedroom furniture (which will become guest room furniture in the new house) because when the realtor walked through our home, he asked us if our master was a "spare room"
. We have never bought master BR furniture, and I guess it is kind of obvious. After all, I have never seen an elliptical machine, cat tower, Sauder dresser, two computers, packed bookshelf, hand-me-down dresser, bed with no headboard, and $3 bedside tables in the after-shots on HGTV. 
So we are going to attempt to spruce things up, but may kill each other in the process. Our plan is to list the house soon after the holidays.Well, after that stream-of-consciousness vent about all of my stressors, I guess I will sign out![/QUOTE]